• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

could someone check my blood tests please

Messages
27
Hi guys,

Firstly thanks for reading secondly I would like to say my main symptoms are CFS, chronic body odor, wide hips + a big back (for a male), joint pains and excessive sweating.

Now with that aside I recently did some blood tests and I'm not sure how to interprete them. My results are below. Everything is fine except vitamin D which is less than 8 (<8). I just wanted to make sure things came back normally. The tests were done on the NHS in the UK.

Here they are:
Total Calcium - 2.37 mmol/L
Corrected Calcium - 2.29 mmol/L

Albumin - 44 g/L

FT4 - 13.1 pmol/L
TSH - 3.02 mu/L

Ferritin - 57 ng/mL

Vitamin B12 - 380 ng/L
Folate - 7.8 ug/L

Vitamin D - <8 nmol/L

ok so like I said all the result are within range apart from vit d. I'll give you the ranges if you want. I also did a full blood count which all came back normal but I can't be bothered to type in the results.
 
Messages
170
Location
Hippietown
Assuming that the ranges are typical, your TSH is a little on the high side, although the majority of the medical community considers it within the normal range(<5). Did they not do a Free T3 test?

What is the upper number they used for the B-12 reference range?
 
Messages
27
Assuming that the ranges are typical, your TSH is a little on the high side, although the majority of the medical community considers it within the normal range(<5). Did they not do a Free T3 test?

What is the upper number they used for the B-12 reference range?

nope they didn't do FT3 the B12 range is 191-900 ng/L.

thanks for replying btw m8.
 

PeterPositive

Senior Member
Messages
1,426
I can comment on some values, if it's of any help.
B12 is not very good. I had a terrible deficiency back in 2011 and my blood test showed a value of 340 which is still in range but a bad marker for sufficiency. You may benefit from a period of B12 supplementation.

Also if by Vitamin D we're talking about 25-OH-D, that's very low too.
I have the same problem and I am fixing it taking a lot of sun and using an UVB lamp when I can't be in the sun.

cheers
 
Messages
27
yes it is vitamin d 25-OH-D and thank you for reply sir. I am so desperate to fix my problems I would do anything right now in particular the chronic fatigue.
 

PeterPositive

Senior Member
Messages
1,426
If you're luckier than me and can tolerate high dose vit D3 supplements you could definitely benefit from a 4-5000 IU daily for at least 8 weeks. Then you should probably re-test and see how much it has improved.

It's my understanding that it can take several months (4-6 and more) to rebuild a good level of Vit D.
 
Messages
27
yes that is what I was told I'll do whatever it takes but I'm wondering how much I should be taking long-term for the rest of my life to keep myself from becoming defiecent??? My doctor says 1000 IU I was thinking it might be closer to 2000-4000 not sure tbh I'm getting very mixed answers from the internet.

thank you for reply again.
 

minkeygirl

But I Look So Good.
Messages
4,678
Location
Left Coast
I take 10,000 Iu in divided dose and have for years. My D is in the mid range now. I haven't noticed it helping at all. I'm also not aware of any problems

I wish I could lay out in the sun like Peter Positive. Just not possible

If you have a diagnosis of CFS, I would think you need other labs done for your immune system, virus, etc to rule that out or see if those areas need to be a addressed. D3 and B12 alone is not enough to treat CFS.

Hip wrote a Roadmap that recommends the tests to get. https://sites.google.com/site/cfstestingandtreatmentroadmap/
 

PeterPositive

Senior Member
Messages
1,426
yes that is what I was told I'll do whatever it takes but I'm wondering how much I should be taking long-term for the rest of my life to keep myself from becoming defiecent??? My doctor says 1000 IU I was thinking it might be closer to 2000-4000 not sure tbh I'm getting very mixed answers from the internet.

thank you for reply again.
The typical medical approach for a D deficiency is 50.000 IU once a week via injection for at least 8 weeks. ( I am essentially quoting Dr. M. Holick who's quite an authority on vit D. See here )

So, if you take oral supplement you could make a similar dose by taking 5-7000 IU daily.
 
Messages
170
Location
Hippietown
yes that is what I was told I'll do whatever it takes but I'm wondering how much I should be taking long-term for the rest of my life to keep myself from becoming defiecent??? My doctor says 1000 IU I was thinking it might be closer to 2000-4000 not sure tbh I'm getting very mixed answers from the internet.

thank you for reply again.

The only way to really know is to get tested regularly (every 6 months or so). Mine was low in April 2014 and I supplemented with 25,000 IUs/day for 2 weeks, then with 5,000 IUs/day for 2 months, which brought my level up to 47, and to maintain it in the 40s all I need is 1000 IUs/day.

Now, I'm not recommending that you take 25,000 UIs/day, just to be clear. :cool:
 
Messages
7
B12 needs to be above 500, at least. Ferritin isn't too bad but ideally should be between 60 and 80. TSH is on the high side, FT4 is on the low end and as others have said, you should have had Free T3 tested. This would give a better indication if you are developing thyroid problems.
 
Messages
27
B12 needs to be above 500, at least. Ferritin isn't too bad but ideally should be between 60 and 80. TSH is on the high side, FT4 is on the low end and as others have said, you should have had Free T3 tested. This would give a better indication if you are developing thyroid problems.

I'm not sure why didn't check my FT3 tbh but I'll enquite at my next appointment which is in 3 weeks. Before this blood test I had a terrible doctor who would refuse to test me my new doctor is ok'ish so hopefully I'll get some results.